One Montgomery County jailer recently worked 14 days straight without a day off because of an ongoing staffing shortage.

“That’s a problem,” Sheriff John Fuson told the County Commission’s Budget Committee this week. “Right now, we’re kinda to the point of having to force people to work. They’re calling in sick at a higher rate. We’re running short. People are quitting because they’re saying, ‘To hell with this.’”

During the 2016-17 fiscal year, about $250,000 was spent on overtime for jail employees. So far, that figure is $507,000 for the current fiscal year, ending June 30, while only $236,000 was budgeted.

Because 76 percent of the overtime cost is related to the staffing shortage, Fuson is asking for nine new positions for the jail. One study shows he should be asking for more. A recent University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service study shows 12 new positions are needed.

He’s also asking for four new officers for transporting prisoners, even though that CTAS study projects that 13 are needed.

The sheriff said six officers are dedicated to prisoner transport, but it’s not uncommon for patrol officers to be used when needed, which takes a deputy off the road.

The need for more employees doesn’t end at the jail. County department heads and elected officials have requested 51 new positions in their 2018-19 budgets. So far, Budget Committee members have tentatively approved 18 full-time and one part-time position, and they postponed a decision on any new employees for the Sheriff’s Office.

Like any budget process, County Mayor Jim Durrett said it comes down to balancing spending with expected revenues. While most of the new positions are justified, he said some may be cut later as the Budget Committee works to trim down the $8 million difference between spending requests and the amount of projected tax revenue.

“We’re a growing community,” Durrett said. “It’s a struggle that we’ve got to go through, and I think we’ll try to give our departments as much as we can afford to give them.”

“As the county grows, the need grows,” added Budget Committee member John Gannon.

EMS stretched 'beyond capacity'

“I’m not for hiring new people, but this is one I think we are obligated to do for the people of the county,” said Budget Committee member Larry Rocconi, referring to adding 10 positions to staff two ambulances during peak times.

EMS has 12 stations across the county, with only two housing more than one ambulance. Meanwhile, EMS is having to provide more transports that require an advanced life-support ambulance between medical facilities. That means some zones, or stations, are without an ambulance for a time and others have to cover for the units out of pocket.

“Lately, we have been obligating 34 hours a day for transports,” Edwards said. “Any time you get over 24 hours, that means you’re tying up two ambulances.”

In effect, it drives up emergency response times. Having two ambulances devoted to transfers during peak hours “offers some relief to ambulances answering 911 calls in their zones,” he said.

The transfer crews will work 12-hour shifts, rather than 24-hour shifts. Eventually, Edwards wants to move all crews to a shorter shift, which will require more personnel.

“It becomes a safety issue for the crews,” he said. “When they are out answering 911 calls, they aren’t as sharp at 3 a.m. in the morning as they are at 3 p.m. in the afternoon.”

Edwards said the demand appears to be “outpacing the population,” though he’s not sure why. Last year, EMS responded to more than 32,000 emergency calls and performed more than 16,000 emergency transports.

“It’s a sign of the growth of our community and the increased demand for emergency services,” he said.

Keeping pace with growth

Keeping up with growth has long been a challenge in Montgomery County. For perspective, the county has had to build and open a new school nearly every year for more than a decade to keep pace with 500 to 600 annual enrollment increases. Last year’s nearly 1,300-student jump could signal a new level of growth.

Following the 1999 tornado that ripped through downtown severely damaging the courthouse and other government buildings, officials considered the community’s rapid growth in their rebuilding plans. At the time, the county had a population around 135,000, and the projected population of for 2020 was 202,680.

The 2017 population for Montgomery County in 2017 was estimated at 200,182, according to the US Census Bureau.

The Montgomery County Courts Center was built with a “shelled-in” third floor that could be finished out with courtrooms as the need arose in coming years.

Just last year, construction was completed on two courtrooms on the building's third floor to accommodate new judges added because of increased caseloads. Durrett noted that Court Clerk Cheryl Castle has not yet appeared before the Budget Committee with her staffing increase requests to support new judges.

Likewise, an expansion of the County Clerk’s Office at Veterans Plaza, which was completed in 2015, has resulted in the Budget Committee approving an additional deputy clerk.

While relieving some of the case backlog at the Courts Center, the expansion has added 15,000 square feet of floor space for custodians to keep clean. Also, an additional 1,400 square feet was added at the County Clerk’s Office.

Facilities and Maintenance Director Kenneth Gentry told Budget Committee members that since 2012, the county has added 35,000 square feet of floor space, but his staff of 13 custodians hasn’t changed.

“I’ve been working on this for four years,” he said of trying to add a position, which the Budget Committee has approved.

Among other positions approved thus far are a fire training officer, an animal control officer so Animal Control can extend its hours, a civil engineer for the Highway Department, a grounds technician for the Parks Department and a diversity training officer for Human Resources.

Trying to cut while growing

The county mayor said formulating a budget in recent years has been challenging, especially with population pressures creating more demand for personnel.

“Over the last three years, we’ve cut a lot,” Durrett said. “I think we’ve got to the point where we’ve held the line as tight as we could, and now we’ve got to take a step forward.”

Budget hawk Tommy Vallejos, a Budget Committee member, concedes, however, that budget cuts must balance with the needs of a growing community, and even some quality-of-life needs.

“We’re trying to meet the needs, but we’ve got to do it in a budgetary manner,” he said. “At the end of the day, did we cut enough to meet that balance so we’re not having to raise property tax? I think that’s going to be the true story of the day, because I don’t think anyone wants their taxes raised.”

It doesn't help fiscal matters that this is an election year, with all County Commission members and the mayor on the ballot Aug. 2.

There will be a significant opportunity to adjust the county's revenue in 2019 when the property tax rate will be reset by the state following property reappraisals. Commissioners would then decide whether to adjust the new state-certified tax rate to take advantage of that growth and generate more revenue.

Mark Hicks can be reached at 931-212-7626 or on Twitter: @markhicksleaf.

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